Our Heavenly Father,

In the first week of Advent, we thank you with a grateful heart for giving us this time of waiting to prepare for the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to prepare for the feast not only outwardly, but also in the depths of our souls. Give us patience in our waiting and strengthen our faith. Help us to reflect your love and mercy in our daily lives. Open our hearts to the poor and needy and give us the strength to help them.

Guide us through the season of Advent and help us to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a worthy way.

Amen.

The first Advent candle, softly glows,
A whispered hope, the season shows.
Of waiting hearts, and joyful sound,
As love's true light, is all around.

One of the most beautiful jewels of Győr Cathedral, the icon of Our Lady of Tears, which was placed in our city with the help of the Irish Bishop Walter Lynch, who fled from Cromwell's campaign against Ireland and Scotland, is also very popular among the Irish visiting Hungary. Bishop János Püsky of Győr invited him to Győr, where he lived for the rest of his life and bequeathed the image known as the Weeping Madonna to the city in 1663.

The pictures were taken after the restoration of the church in the autumn of 2023, with Brother Leo, a member of the Alexian community in Hungary.

 

Saint Alexius, man of God, you are our support, our model and our patron as we carry out our ministry to the sick, the poor and the elderly. Ask our Lord to send sufficient vocations to our congregation so that we may continue our legacy of service among those in need. Amen.

A selection of photos from the chapel of St. Bernadette of the Alexian Monastery in Győrújbarát, Western Hungary.

 

During the General Chapter in Kleve, Germany, in May 2016, participants visited the statue of Karl Leisner during a tour of the city. He was a Roman Catholic priest interned in the Dachau concentration camp. He died shortly after being liberated by the Allied forces. He has been declared a martyr and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

Brother Barry and the American and German Brothers
in front of the martyr's statue

Mural of Saint Alexius in the chapel of a building formerly used as a hospice, Le Vigan, France.